This invention relates to the field of computer systems. More particularly, a method and apparatus are provided for improving the quality and efficiency of users' browsing experiences and reducing the dangers posed by malware that may be encountered while browsing.
Today's browsers provide users with substandard browsing, primarily because their focus is limited to a single web page at any given time. Specifically, a browser generally displays just a single page, which may include hyperlinks to any number of other pages or sites. The browser does not allow the user to see what is on a linked page until he or she redirects the browser to that page (e.g., by selecting a hyperlink). Only then can the user determine whether that page contains anything of interest to her. If not, she must retrace her action to return to another possible branching point (e.g., by clicking a “back” button).
This pattern—of selecting a link to go to a new page, reviewing its content, and possibly selecting a link on that page—may continue any number of levels deep, all of which must be retraced to return to a starting point. When that starting point is a list of links to web sites or pages (e.g., at a search engine site) or a list of links to goods or services (e.g., at a retail or auction site), a user may have to traverse a number of chains of linked pages, and continually return to the starting point, in the hope of finding content that more closely matches her interest.
In addition, when the user selects a link to navigate to a corresponding page, only then does the browser retrieve the content of that page. Depending on the bandwidth or type of communication link available to the user, and the status of the starting point and target web site (e.g., how congested the web server is), there is often a noticeable time lag before the target page is fully displayed. When the user accesses numerous pages, as is typical during a search session with a search engine or retail/auction site, the combined duration of the time lags can cause a significant amount of wasted time. A user wishing to quickly review several links or pages can become very frustrated with her browser's response time. And, if an error is encountered while trying to load a page, the user may have to try reloading it multiple times before she is successful or before she gives up.
Further, users receive little assistance, if any, while navigating multiple chains of linked pages. For example, when a user browses through multiple chains from a page of search results provided by a search engine, she may come across pages that, while not fully matching her interest, may bear further examination if better pages are not found. Traditionally, she would have to remember how she reached that page (e.g., the sequence of links she selected to get there) or add a bookmark to her browser. Remembering sequences of links becomes more and more difficult as they (and her browsing session) get longer and longer. And, accumulating bookmarks that are of little or no interest makes bookmark management increasingly difficult.
Yet further, in a method of enhanced browsing as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/985,700, content of linked pages may be retrieved before (e.g., prefetched) or when a link to that content (or an icon associated with the link) is moused-over or clicked on. The retrieved content may be displayed within an enhanced browsing window positioned over the main browsing page. With such enhanced browsing it would be helpful to indicate the status of the content retrieval to reveal, for example, whether retrieval has commenced or completed, whether retrieval is possible, whether a link is non-functioning, etc.
Also, the threat of (e.g., viruses, trojan horses, phishing attacks, worms, spyware, adware) and other electronic security threats continues to grow, but existing browsers do little to identify or prevent such threats from affecting a user's computer. Instead, separate programs (e.g., anti-virus software) are generally used to attempt to detect threatening content. However, these specialized programs typically scan content only after a user navigates to a page containing that content. Thus, the content is already loaded into the user's browser window before it is analyzed to determine if it contains anything that may be harmful or annoying. As a result, before it is scanned the content may already have a chance to generate a pop-up advertisement, replicate a worm, plant a cookie, modify the user's computer configuration, or have other undesirable effect.